Ellen L. Corn, 50, of Petersburg, has been sentenced to one year and nine months in federal prison after pleading guilty to five counts of wire fraud. She will also serve three years of supervised release and must pay $121,439.72 in restitution.

According to court documents, Corn served as the executive director of a Dubois County nonprofit from March 2017 to August 2022. The organization runs a youth mentoring program and provides college scholarships. During her tenure, Corn had access to its finances, including a credit card and accounting software.

Prosecutors say she stole a total of $161,344.85 by making more than 1,200 unauthorized transactions. These included personal purchases at Amazon, Target, and Walmart, tuition payments for her children, and transfers from the nonprofit’s PayPal account to her own. Corn also used the group’s checking account for personal expenses and concealed the transactions in reports to the board of directors.

Officials say the theft reduced funding for certain programs. In 2022, Corn failed to notify a first-generation student who had been selected to receive a scholarship.

The U.S. Secret Service and Jasper Police Department investigated the case. U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young imposed the sentence.